Vijayapura: Karnataka’s first case under the newly amended anti-Cow slaughter Act has been registered in Kudgi village in Vijayapura district, Animal Husbandry minister Prabhu Chauhan said on Friday.
Kudgi is a small village located adjacent to Solapur to Chitradurga Highway (NH13) In Vijayapura, about 500 kms from state capital Bengaluru.
According to a press statement released by Chauhan, the Basavan Bagewadi police has arrested Sikandarsab Rajesab Bepari, 35, resident of Kudgi village. Bepari was arrested when he was allegedly chopping meat of an Ox/Bull in a makeshift tin shed situated near a railway line in the village.
“I am elated over our government giving me an opportunity to protect our cows and cattle. He was arrested after the public tipped off the local police, as in-time intervention of people and police was able to save one ox/bull that was tied to a pole nearby. Perhaps he was to slaughter it after he completed his chopping of another Ox that was slaughtered already,” the minister’s statement said.
He also appealed to people that they should work to protect cow and cattle that are on the verge of extinction. “People should not take the law into their hands, let the police do its job. People need to inform police if they see any cow, ox, bull, buffalo or calves being slaughtered or smuggled,” he explained.
The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Ordinance, 2020 came into force from January 18 after Governor Vajubahi Rudabhai Vala’s approval.
The Karnataka Prevention of Slaughter and Preservation of Cattle Act, 2020, which envisages a ban on all forms of cattle slaughter and stringent punishment for offenders, is a revised version of a Bill that was passed in 2010 when the BJP was in power.
Subsequently, in 2013, Congress came to power and the BJP’s 2010 contentious Bill was shelved. The Congress had reverted to the less stringent Karnataka Prevention of Cow Slaughter and Preservation of Animals Act, 1964, which allows cow slaughter with certain restrictions.
